New York: Yahoo! has appointed another key Google executive Henrique de Castro, as its chief operating officer (COO).

In a late night statement on Monday, Yahoo! said it has appointed Henrique de Castro as the COO, who would report directly to Yahoo! CEO Marissa Mayer.

De Castro would be the second big appointment that Yahoo! has made from its rival Google. Earlier this year, Yahoo! had appointed former Google executive Marissa Mayer as its chief executive.

"De Castro will join the company on or before January 22, 2013, or as soon as he has satisfied his obligations to his current employer," the statement added.

De Castro will be responsible for strategic and operational management of Yahoo!'s sales, operations, media and business development worldwide.

"Henrique is an incredibly accomplished and rigorous business leader, and I'm personally excited to have him join Yahoo!'s strong leadership team," Yahoo! CEO Marissa Mayer said.

"His operational experience in Internet advertising and his proven success in structuring and scaling global organisations make him the perfect fit for Yahoo! as we propel the business to its next phase of growth," Mayer added.

De Castro has more than 20 years experience. Most recently, he was vice president of Google's worldwide Partner Business Solutions group, where he was responsible for advertising platforms and services for Google's publisher and commerce partners.

"The combination of Yahoo!'s unique properties with high quality content, its renewed focus on outstanding user experience and its massive reach bring tremendous value to users, advertisers and partners," de Castro said.

De Castro further added: "This is a pivotal point in Yahoo!'s history, and I believe strongly in the opportunity ahead. I can't wait to join Marissa and the team and get started".

Prior to Google, de Castro spent two years at Dell Corporation, where he managed sales and business development operations across Western Europe.